5.03.2007

Ava Thursday: Cross Country

It's been a long time coming, but here it is: Ava Thursday! And this is the one that I've been wanting to post ever since we got settled here in Portland. During our trip across the country from Georgia to Oregon, Ava colored in each and every state that we were in on this map, supplied to Ava thanks to her Nani, my mom. She had a lot of fun asking me which state is which and then deciding on her own which color to use. And she was very adamant about not coloring a state until we definitely crossed the state line. "Daddy, are we in Colorado yet?" she would ask, orange Crayola in hand. "No, not yet." I'd look back and find her staring out the window at the vast prairie land, not in the least bit bored. She loved the entire trip.

We went through Idaho, but Ava used a white crayon for that particular state, making it kinda hard to see it in this scan. And the rainbow for Oregon was Ava's idea.

Wow. I'd hadn't stopped to look at a map and being not totally au fait with American geography, I'd not realised that you really had just gone from one side of the country to the other. I knew you'd travelled a fair distance - but not that distance. Wow again.

We still use miles over here in the UK, Ward, unlike the rest of Europe. :) I love road trips... never done one with kids though (unless *being* a kid counts!) -- it looks like it was a great journey! The map was a great idea, too, and will make an excellent memento.